Is Sales a part of Marketing? Or is it the other way?

Philip Kotler said that Marketing was all about satisfying needs and wants through an exchange process. I like another definition by The Chartered Institute of Marketing where they have defined it as the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably. There would be others too and I am sure people would have studied them.

So as per concept there is no denying that Sales is a function under the umbrella of Marketing. Marketing to me is the whole end to end process of understanding needs, developing products and services to satisfy those needs, reaching them to the customer, support, maintaining relationships. It would also include market analysis, branding, promoting, product management and almost everything to do with a customer. In spite of views that may not agree with mine I am quite unwilling to change my stand on this!!

For people who think otherwise it is due to the perceptions that dictate their views. They would have been exposed to the fact that typically in most organizations you have a separate Sales Department and a separate Marketing Department.

Typically the marketing department in most situations carries out the marketing support functions like advertising, brand building and promotions. Some of them also bring in Product Management under this department though I have seen situations where Product Management is a separate group and they are responsible for the whole cycle for that particular product. Marketing Dept in the latter companies would perhaps just provide OVERALL Corporate Marketing Support.

Sales is a very important process since it deals with the bottom line(others do too). It consumes a lot of energy in dealing and converting the unknown and also tests the concepts on ground. Most organizations find it easier therefore to separately handle the marketing portions(other than sales) and sales. There would be aspects of Marketing that is broken up and handled by different departments or units. What is however important is that all the marketing activities that would include sales need to be in tandem. The entire mega process is marketing while sub processes are delegated to specialized people.

Let’s say there is a marketing project where a new brand of toothpaste has to be introduced you would find even R&D and production people getting involved. If the manufacturing is outsourced your external partner gets involved too.

Therefore without confusing ourselves, like some have already explained, everything has to work together. Every unit has a given deliverable to accomplish. Deliverables could be one time or repeatable. They all contribute to the big M.

It depends upon the “culture/direction from top management” on how the organization is structured and how processes will be carried out. The debate that carries on therefore is purely semantics and not worth considering.

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Isnt the 'Proactive marketing approach' more of a disturbance to the customer? (Linked In)

My Answer:

I am not particularly in favour of using an adjective like Proactive. I am not sure as to how Marketing can be otherwise!!

The concept of disturbance again could be relative and diverse based on people, their background, culture likes and dislikes.

Typically any marketing approach and the particular activity undertaken will have to define customer touch points. So it could be an ad in the morning news paper sports section, a radio jingle in a particular program slot, a salesperson cold calling on and ringing your doorbell, an ad during Prime Time Friends, an email, an ad on a website and many more. Each of these again in many different ways.

Now any marketing approach must figure out the target segment and then decide how to reach them. An understanding of the segment that is being targeted is therefore of extreme importance. Understanding would be in terms of their social norms, behavior, culture and other attributes.

When you do all these and then carry out your marketing activities, that's what I would term as being proactive. This means that you try to understand a customer in terms of their thoughts, beliefs, feelings and needs.

Any marketing approach is intended to utilize those moments with the customer effectively. I reckon that if you are offensive or creating disturbance then you are not being effective and therefore you are not being proactive!!

An example:
It was 10.00 at night the other day when our doorbell rang. I live in an apartment in a typical residential high rise building Through the eye-hole I could see a lady and a gentleman. I opened the door with the door chain on, when the lady explained to me that they were doing some survey on tap water and wanted fifteen minutes of my time to conduct the experiment!! I mentioned that we do not consume tap water and then suggested to them they could conduct that experiment at the source itself and should rather contact the building supervisor instead of knocking apartments and that too in the night. She was awed by my suggestion but insisted that I should give in since it would hardly take a while. I immediately asked her if they were trying to sell a water purifier to me and she agreed. I told them I will not buy one and was polite with my 'thank you"!! She made a big face, rolled her eyes away, looked at her partner, shrugged, bid a rude "have a nice day" (@#$&**?) and waled off to next apartment.

This was surely disturbance!! I do not want to blame the salesperson right away here.

It is all a question of marketing approach and the right way of doing things. Some organizations do it well, while most do not. Many products sell in the market, but you would always like to remember and emulate people and organization who do the right thing, the right way and are friendly to the world and its inhabitants.

Marketing is surely about understanding consumer needs and then conceptualising, developing, promoting and delivering the product or service to fulfill those needs again and again. The marketing approach could be Push or Pull but I am quite clear that both approaches have to ensure that they are not offensive or causing disturbance. That's one facet of being proactive after all!! Sphere: Related Content

Customer Service - Should it be a part of sales (Question in Linked In)

My Answer:


1. My first contention is that there should not be a stereotype Customer Service Department in an organisation let alone it be under Sales.
2. All organisations have customer touch points for give and take of contractual promises, delivery, problem solving, help, information, relationship building. Even cold calling sometimes in very esoteric thinking could come under the perview of customer services.
3. Now all these different touch points typically would be a start or culminating point of different internal processes managed by different departments/functions/individuals based on the org structure and process structure.
4. The question is to manage these processes efficiently (led by customer expectations) and ensuring that the orchestra team is playing each instrument at the right time.

Customer Service is all about managing expectations and is an ART that should be managed using Science. Is therefore not a question of whether a Customer Service Department should be under Sales. Most often than not the answer would be negative. But that is not the issue. The point is to ensure that your touch points are well defined and they are delivering right, again and again, in same and different circumstances. That brings in the subject of how to understand customer expectations and that's perhaps a separate discussion, Lastly I feel that anything to do with the customer needs to be strategic!!! Sphere: Related Content

GramPea Salad

Though the heading sort of sounds like Grumpy with a twang, this is really a salad made of Bengal Grams and Chickpea and it could get spicy depending upon your inclination.

1. Soak overnight 100 grams of Bengal Gram and 100 grams of Chick Pea.
2. Next day drain the water.
3. Boil the two in separate pans for about 15 minutes till tender bit not mushy.
3. Boil 2 medium sized potatoes and cut them into small pieces.
4. Put all the three in a large bowl.
5. You need some chopped green chillies based on how "hot" you want this to be.
6. 2 tsp of salt to mix should be enough.
7. Throw in some black pepper too.
8. Now the simple dressing. 2 tbsp of olive oil, 2 tbsp of lemon juice and a pinch of salt.
9. You could also throw in some chopped cilantro and then mix everything lightly!!

That's it. The tenth step is to serve or eat. Sphere: Related Content

Unique way of protesting against Bad Customer Service

Musician Dave Carroll watched in horror as United Airlines baggage workers at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport manhandled his $3,500 guitar last year. When he and his band arrived in Nebraska, the guitar was broken.

Thus began Carroll’s sad song.

Filing a claim for reimbursement for the guitar proved futile; airlines often exempt “valuables” including musical instruments from damage coverage in their contract of carriage. So Carroll and his band, Sons of Maxwell, decided to seek revenge instead of reimbursement. He told the last person to deny his claim, Ms. Irlweg, that he “would write and produce three songs about my experience with United Airlines and make videos for each to be viewed online by anyone in the world.”

He put together a catchy song and cute video describing his nine-month hassle and posted it. Although United saved $3,500 by denying his broken guitar claim, the music video likely will generate far more than that in negative publicity for the airline.

The Video:

Courtesy: WSJ BLOGS

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View from Hell

The View from Hell is clear and bright
The Sun is Black, The night is radiant
Good is Evil, Evil is Good
Sweet and Sanity understood,

From Dolan's Caddilac Sphere: Related Content

Why do organizations emphasize on team work but reward individual contributions more promptly?

1, We do not try.
2. We do not understand team dynamics
3. We almost always commit the same "mistakes" without understanding that they are mistakes.
4. We as a race like the concept of heroes.
5. We still do not understand the power of the "middle". We only reward the top and discard the bottom. And we continue our process with the disgruntled middle.

Managing an organisation is a game all right but not so simplistic. This is a complex process with complex situations and complex answers. So just rewarding a hero is not the answer. It has to be a holistic reward system that motivates the people at all levels. Aspirations could be different in terms or money or recognition or other aspects of life. Very few organisations and the people in it invest time to figure out these issues. Therefore it's good to talk about teams, team recognition and rewards in forums, discussions, blogs et al but when going and acting there is much left to be desired between practical theory and actual practice.” Sphere: Related Content

How do we know if there is any Strategy present in a Strategic Plan?

English as a language is ever evolving and words used can be perceived by us in different ways. Vision, Mission, Strategy, Goals, Objectives, Targets, Deliverables, and so on and so forth.

So I could have tactics, but one could also term it as a short term strategy!! Is Mission a Goal? Are objectives met by a strategy or every strategy must have a plan that should include tactics? Vision comes before Mission or vice versa!! Finally everything is relative and depends upon what time frame and accomplishment(oh another new word) we are looking at.

Restricting to the question and using the words listed I would say that a Strategy Plan must have the following:
1. What are we planning to achieve and in what time frame? Why?
2. Is it implementable, actionable on the ground and is the "how" defined and tested.
3. How would you measure the implementation and effort?
4. Is the strategy in sync with the top level areas of Vision, Mission, et al.
5. Is there are a Work breakdown Structure available?
6. Are the resources identified?

A mere Intent white paper is not a Strategic Plan. However the detailing might differ depending upon which level of the organisation is discussing it. Sphere: Related Content

DECISIONS

Decisions!! Are they more from the brain or the gut. The answers could be more brain, or guts or a mix of both.

Then somebody also mentioned that there is a third dimension to this in terms of influence or being a catalyst. It is the Heart!! So there you go!! For further information click on this:

HEART and decisions!!

That would give a new perspective.

The attribute of skill (another dimension) I have assumed to be part of the brain, though you could disagree!! Sphere: Related Content

TV News - Rajdeep Sardesai's feelings!!!

The other day I was reading a blog written by Rajdeep Sardesai on TV news and the apparent negatives and positives.

While you would draw your own conclusions, I find the accumulation of words and cases quite amusing. In the sense its like the classic situation of what you preach is not being practiced in action. How silly it is an action when you become a self appointed ombudsman!!

THE LINK


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What do you think would happen? If we all carried out ONE random act of kindness a day, with no expectation of reward? - My answer in Linked In

This is a great concept and the responses surely prove it.

My question is - why only "ONE" act of kindness and that too "random" in a day. If you are inclined so, what aren’t you a kind person throughout the day? Or, does the way you work or live do not allow you to be kind? Therefore, you need to look for this window where you would be "kind" and then be pleased about it.

The terrorist who killed a Jew Rabbi and his wife together on 26/11 in Mumbai was also helping his fellow terrorist mate with medicines and water since the latter was injured. Was he a kind man?

Would you think that kindness is a character trait? The other question I would like to ask is “Do you care?”

Kindness as a concept to me is not about boosting one’s self ego. It is not another job to be done. It’s how you orient your mind brain and heart so that you have positive feelings towards other human beings, animals, plants, environments, beliefs, race…etc etc.

Now somebody will surely argue that as human beings we have different thought strains for different situations. Yes we surely do, and I am not a specialist in that subject. But given your environment and culture one would expect that you demonstrate kindness “all” the time.

In perspective, say you are being reprimanded by your boss for a misdeed, it’s nothing to do with whether he was kind or not. Again, surely I appreciate the fact that you donate that change in the shop to some charitable organization; but for you that’s not the end.

I hope I am not being complicated in my thoughts. If yes, please be kind to me!! Also, my first statement is perhaps a bit divergent from the rest of the words that I have put together. I needed to be kind after all!!

In the meantime, let’s all be kind and please carry on with your promises to yourself on being kind!! I am on your side, without a doubt!!

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How Indian companies using Internet for Marketing their Products and Services? (My answers in Linked In)

This question has been lurking in my mind too but I have reconciled to myself that the answer is not a simple one. In fact like ART any of the answers could be perceived and interpreted differently.

The first question to ask is what is the product you are trying to sell and to whom? The second question would be in terms of your sales strategy that would mean pre sales, lead generation and finally connecting with the potential segment. There is also a question of your branding and brand building activities.

All these require resources. Resources would be in terms of money, people and knowledge.

Most Indian companies have been using the websites as an electronic form of the Corporate Brochure. A selling medium and especially an unconventional one need to be promoted. So not only are you promoting the product but you need to also promote the medium through which sales has been planned for.

The last point is the most important and that’s all about the consumer. Is your segment ready for responding through internet for the buying process? Is the consumer ready only to absorb knowledge but not purchase through the net? The marketing strategy that is willing to consider the web needs to answer these questions. Sphere: Related Content

Basic Human Nature. Good or Bad? (My answer to Linked In Questions)

Human beings are slaves of their own personal thoughts and actions and that’s not a bad thing, in fact there is no running away from that. Now, is a particular person good or bad is a question of how a person or society or groups judge him.

A person is what he is. Let me take some extreme examples. Mother Teresa was obviously a good person. She took care of the sick and needy, genuinely felt for them and build a fantastic humanitarian society with this philosophy. Is she good? Of course she is, beyond doubt. Now what about a psycho serial killer? Is he bad? Apparently he is. But then let’s say he is assigned to a special psychiatric doctor and then what would you expect the doctor to think of him. The doctor would definitely not judge him. He would rather analyze him and try to fix his bad traits and bring him on track.

So basically I would like to think that all persons were born good, but then circumstances, environments could make him display bad traits or act in a wrong way.

The perspective of the judge here is of utmost importance. A drug lord looking for an accomplice would look for a person with all the ‘wrong’ traits and then find him ‘good’. In the movie “The Italian Job” there is this classic dialogue. “I like you, but I don’t like the things you do”. What would make that person? Good or Bad?

There is no digital answer to this in terms of 0 and 1. It’s much more complicated than that. You have to continuously analyze information and then base your opinion and that could change too under changing circumstances.

Have I been bad or good in my thoughts? I am sure views would be divergent!!

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CONGRESS MP Slaps Bank Manager

The video clip was telecast on national(India) television and I was appalled to see the sight. On second thoughts I was feeling angry and helpless. Then I turned delirious. It's absolutely amazing as to how our politicians tend to think that they are larger than God. In fact we would want them to be us and that where the tragedy lies.

The average Indian mentally is normally a follower in spite of having this much touted "more clever than you' concept. So our politicians who are by no means stupid take advantage of this phenomenon. And the crowd follows them too without any self respect. Pity Us!! Sphere: Related Content